Publications

Abstract not provided.

The ADROIT Analysis of Dispersal Risk Qccurring in transportation code is the primary tool used to perform probabilistic risk assessments for the Transportation Safeguards Division of the Department of Energy. The current version of ADROIT uses a Pasquill-Gifford stability-class approach to meteorological characterization. In order to assess the affect that this simplified approach to weather characterization has on ADROIT'S predictions of consequence and risk, the Pasquill-Gifford stability-class approach was replaced with a direct use of radiosonde data from the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC). A comparison of results obtained for the two weather characterizations shows that, under certain circumstances, the use of the stability-class approach can result in a significant underprediction of consequence and risk values. Since such an underprediction is non-consewative, it is recommended that the stability-class approach currently used by ADROIT be replaced with a more detailed characterization of meteorological conditions. Specifically, the NCDC database was found to have sufllcient temporal and spatial resolution for ADROIT applications. Understanding that an attempt to use of all of the NCDC data in ADROIT would be prohibitive, a sampling scheme is presented as a viable alternative for instituting the recommendation of this study.

A bench-scale experiment was designed and constructed to determine the effective thermal diffusivity of crushed tuff. Crushed tuff particles ranging from 12.5 mm to 37.5 mm (0.5 in. to 1.5 in.) were used to fill a cylindrical volume of 1.58 m{sup 3} at an effective porosity of 0.48. Two iterations of the experiment were completed; the first spanning approximately 502 hours and the second 237 hours. Temperatures near the axial heater reached 700 degrees C, with a significant volume of the test bed exceeding 100 degrees C. Three post-test analysis techniques were used to estimate the thermal diffusivity of the crushed tuff. The first approach used nonlinear parameter estimation linked to a one dimensional radial conduction model to estimate thermal diffusivity from the first 6 hours of test data. The second method used the multiphase TOUGH2 code in conjunction with the first 20 hours of test data not only to estimate the crushed tuffs thermal diffusivity, but also to explore convective behavior within the test bed. Finally, the nonlinear conduction code COYOTE-II was used to determine thermal properties based on 111 hours of cool-down data. The post-test thermal diffusivity estimates of 5.0 x 10-7 m{sup 2}/s to 6.6 x 10-7 m{sup 2}/s were converted to effective thermal conductivities and compared to estimates obtained from published porosity-based relationships. No obvious match between the experimental data and published relationships was found to exist; however, additional data for other particle sizes and porosities are needed.

One of the primary factors that influences our predictions of host-rock thermal response within a high level waste repository is how the waste stream`s represented in the models. In the context of thermal modeling, waste stream refers to an itemized listing of the type (pressurized-water or boiling-water reactor), age, burnup, and enrichment of the spent nuclear fuel assemblies entering the repository over the 25-year emplacement phase. The effect of package-by-package variations in spent fuel characteristics on predicted repository thermal response is the focus of this report. A three-year portion of the emplacement period was modeled using three approaches to waste stream resolution. The first assumes that each package type emplaced in a given year is adequately represented by average characteristics. For comparison, two models that explicitly account for each waste package`s individual characteristics were run; the first assuming a random selection of packages and the second an ordered approach aimed at locating the higher power output packages toward the center of the emplacement area. Results indicate that the explicit representation of packages results in hot and cold spots that could have performance assessment and design implications. Furthermore, questions are raised regarding the representativeness of average characteristics with respect to integrated energy output and the possible implications of a mass-based repository loading approach.

A fundamental concern in the design of the potential repository at Yucca Mountain. Nevada is the response of the host rock to the emplacement of heat-generating waste. The thermal perturbation of the rock mass has implications regarding the structural, hydrologic. and geochemical performance of the potential repository. The phenomenological coupling of many of these performance aspects makes repository thermal modeling a difficult task. For many of the more complex, coupled models, it is often necessary to reduce the geometry of the potential repository to a smeared heat-source approximation. Such simplifications have impacts on induced thermal profiles that in turn may influence other predicted responses through one- or two-way thermal couplings. The effect of waste employment layout on host-rock thermal was chosen as the primary emphasis of this study. Using a consistent set of modeling and input assumptions, far-field thermal response predictions made for discrete-source as well as plate source approximations of the repository geometry. Input values used in the simulations are consistent with a design-basis a real power density (APD) of 80 kW/acre as would be achieved assuming a 2010 emplacement start date, a levelized receipt schedule, and a limitation on available area as published in previous design studies. It was found that edge effects resulting from general repository layout have a significant influence on the shapes and extents of isothermal profiles, and should be accounted for in far-field modeling efforts.

Historical and projected inventories of spent fuel from commercial light-water nuclear reactors exhibit diverse decay characteristics and ages. This report summarizes a preliminary reexamination of a method for determining equivalent thermal loads for the range of spent fuel expected at a potential underground repository. The method, known at the Equivalent Energy Density (EED) concept, bases its equivalence criteria on the assumption that a given waste will produce worst-case thermomechanical effects equal to worst-case thermomechanical effects produced by a baseline waste, provided that the thermal energy deposited in the host rock over a specified deposition period is the same for both waste descriptions. To test this assumption, temperature histories at representative locations within the host rock were calculated using layouts defined by the EED concept and four deposition periods (20, 50, 100, and 300 years). It was found that the peak temperatures at near-field locations were best matched by the shorter deposition periods of 20 and 50 years. However, due to the sensitivity of the near-field environment to short-term canister-to-canister interactions, caution,should be used when choosing a near-field deposition period. At the location chosen to represent the far-field, a 300-year deposition period provided reasonable correspondence of peak temperature responses for all waste descriptions examined.